Steampunk III: Steampunk Revolution

Ann VanderMeer, ed.

Playfully mashing up the romantic elegance of the Victorian era with whimsically modernized technology, the wildly popular steampunk genre is here to stay. Now, long live the revolution! This entertaining and edgy new anthology is the newest installment in the bestselling Steampunk series.

Steampunk III: Steampunk Revolution

by Ann VanderMeer, ed.

Playfully mashing up the romantic elegance of the Victorian era with whimsically modernized technology, the wildly popular steampunk genre is here to stay. Now…long live the revolution!

Steampunk Revolution features a renegade collective of writers and artists, including steampunk legends and hot, new talents rebooting the steam-driven past and powering it into the future. Lev Grossman’s “Sir Ranulph Wykeham-Rackham, GBE, a.k.a. Roboticus the All-Knowing” is the Six-Million-Dollar Steampunk Man, possessing appendages and workings recycled from metal parts, yet also fully human, resilient, and determined. Bruce Sterling’s “White Fungus” introduces steampunk’s younger cousin, salvage-punk, speculating on how cities will be built in the future using preexisting materials. Cat Valente’s “Mother Is a Machine” explores the merging of man and machine and a whole new form of parenting. In Jeff VanderMeer’s anti-steampunk story “Fixing Hanover,” a creator must turn his back on his creation because it is so utterly destructive. And Cherie Priest presents “The Clockroach,” a new and very unsettling mode of transportation.

Going far beyond corsets and goggles, Steampunk Revolution is not just your granddad’s zeppelin—it’s an even wilder ride.

“Steampunk isn’t just about Victorians playing with cogs and gears; these stories (and a few essays) reveal some of the latest steps in this branch of speculative fiction’s evolution.”
—Shelf Awareness

“This third volume of the acclaimed Steampunk anthology series features an international cast of authors and a revolutionary take on the wonders of Steam. As steampunk continues to gain in popularity, these new tales and fresh tropes from established steampunk storytellers and new exciting talents reconcile Victorian pleasantries with passionate ideologies, reinvigorating the genre.”
—Books World

“Demonstrates the power of a well-orchestrated collection…a must-have for any fan of the subgenre.”
—Beyond Victoriana

“The 27 stories gathered here are therefore noteworthy both because of their subject matter as well as for the way they stretch the stylistics of Steampunk in new and different directions.”
—Bookgasm

“These stories have something everyone can enjoy.”
—SF Site

“Steampunk III is a strong and sharp collection of writing. You don’t have to be a fan of steampunk—or even really know what it is—to enjoy this work. In any case, it collects the writing of not only the sharpest, newest voices in steampunk, but also a great many who bring their authority to all types of explorative writing.”
—January Magazine

Ann VanderMeer is the Hugo Award–winning editor of Weird Fiction Review. She was the fiction editor at Weird Tales and the publisher of Buzzcity Press, work for which received the British Fantasy, International Horror Guild, and Rhysling awards. An expert on Victoriana, she is the co-editor of the best-selling World Fantasy Award–nominated Steampunk series. Her other anthologies include the Best American Fantasy and Leviathan series, The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Diseases, The New Weird, and Last Drink, Bird Head.

Praise for Steampunk

“The VanderMeers (The New Weird) have assembled another outstanding theme anthology, this one featuring stories set in alternate Victorian eras. Michael Moorcock, the godfather of steampunk, is represented by an excerpt from his classic novel The Warlord of the Air. In ‘Lord Kelvin’s Machine,’ a fine tale from prolific steampunk author James P. Blaylock, mad scientists plot to throw the Earth into the path of a passing comet, declaring that ‘science will save us this time, gentlemen, if it doesn’t kill us first.’ Michael Chabon’s vivid and moving ‘The Martian Agent, a Planetary Romance’ recounts the lives of two young brothers in the aftermath of George Custer’s mutiny against Queen Victoria, while historical fantasist Mary Gentle describes a classic struggle between safety and progress in ‘A Sun in the Attic.’ This is a superb introduction to one of the most popular and inventive subgenres in science fiction.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“All stories contained in the anthology Steampunk collected by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer are of high quality…. Recommended for those who enjoy steampunk and those who want a diverse exposure to the possibilities within steampunk.”
—SF Revu

“The VanderMeers’ anthologies seem to be establishing a new landmark for the aughts…. Blimey, guv’nor! Mission accomplished!”
—The Fix

“It is as if a mad scientist had done all his shopping at Victoriana instead of Sharper Image…. [It] effectively captures what the steampunk genre is all about.”
—Los Angeles Times

“[O]f all speculative fiction’s subgenres, steampunk is proving to be among the most popular and influential…. Anne and Jeff VanderMeer have gathered many of the gnarliest examples of the genre in their Steampunk anthology.”
—Manchester Guardian

“[D]ark pseudo-Victorian fun…a great deal to offer the casual reader and the critic alike….”
—SF Site

“[F]rom the inception of Steampunk right up through today…a great book…. I can’t put it down.”
—BoingBoing.net

“This new collection of previously published stories spotlights some of the best short work in the subgenre.”
—San Francisco Chronicle

“[I]f you want to go deeper into realms where high tech and the old world meet, be sure to pick up the Steampunk anthology….”
—San Francisco Examiner

“The diversity of the sci-fi subgenre is amply demonstrated in this anthology…. Both fans of steampunk and readers for whom it’s a foreign concept should find this collection rewarding.”
—Kirkus

“The VanderMeers, ardent steampunkers themselves, historically sample that fantasy genre in which the Victorian era is reimagined to include Martian technology, steam-powered robots, airships, alchemy, and various anachronistic technologies.”
—Booklist

“The VanderMeers’ first Steampunk anthology (2008) can already be considered a classic.”
—Tor.com

“Steampunk is a genre for thinkers, and this book proves the point. The stories inside are beautiful, often lyrical, frequently disturbing, always exciting, and occasionally even funny, but they’re also dense, literary, and trusting of the reader to be smart enough to ‘get’ it.”
—New York Journal of Books

“Steampunk fans will want to add this to their personal collections; libraries owning the first volume should round out their holdings.”
—Library Journal

“The VanderMeers have, once again, captured the essence of the genre…. This book is a must-have collection for fans of steampunk and those who love a dark, rousing tale of what could have been.”
—Tangent

“This is a well-put-together anthology suited for both lovers of Steampunk and those new to the genre.”
—Steamed!

“Though it may be the brass’s flash that first attracts readers, it’s the grime and verdigris that makes the stories, and this anthology, so compelling.”
—Time Out Chicago

Praise for The New Weird

“The VanderMeers (Best American Fantasy) ably demonstrate the sheer breadth of the ‘New Weird’ fantasy subgenre in this powerful anthology of short fiction and critical essays. Highlights include strong fiction by authors such as M. John Harrison, Clive Barker, Kathe Koja, and Michael Moorcock, whose work pointed the way to such definitive New Weird tales as Jeffrey Ford’s ‘At Reparata’ and K. J. Bishop’s ‘The Art of Dying.’ Lingering somewhere between dark fantasy and supernatural horror, New Weird authors often seek to create unease rather than full-fledged terror. The subgenre’s roots in the British New Wave of the 1960s and the Victorian Decadents can lend a self-consciously literary and experimental aura, as illustrated by the ‘laboratory,’ where more mainstream fantasy and horror authors, including Sarah Monette and Conrad Williams, try their hands at creating New Weird stories. This extremely ambitious anthology will define the New Weird much as Bruce Sterling’s landmark Mirrorshades anthology defined cyberpunk.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Highly recommended for all libraries interested in the latest in SF and fantasy as well as modern horror.”
—Library Journal

“The first comprehensive anthology of the movement….”
—Guardian

“[M]ix(es) elements of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror into a style that reaches back to Lovecraft and Jack Vance while grasping at the darker future of speculative fiction.”
—The A.V. Club

“If you’re into ‘lit-speak’ and the debate over what any of this means, this is your kind of collection. If you don’t care and are just interested in some cool disturbing stories set in gritty alternative worlds, this is your kind of book, too.”
—Black Gate

“This anthology is a must-read for lovers of literate dark fiction…. If the only way to grade an anthology is by its ability to provide fascinating dreams, then the New Weird gets an A+.”
—Internet Review of Science Fiction

Nonfiction
“Winding Down the House: Towards a Steampunk without Steam” by Amal El-Mohtar
“Steampunk Shapes Our Future” by Margaret Killjoy
“From Airships of Imagination to Feet on the Ground” by Jaymee Goh
“The (R)Evolution of Steampunk” by Austin Sirkin